Black Characters in Today’s (and Yesterday’s) Anime

Continuing on with Nerdy But Flirty‘s Black History Month special articles, today, I bring you an interesting, yet almost taboo, topic amongst anime and manga fans alike:

The portrayal of black characters in anime.

Contrary to popular belief, the rising of more black (read: not “dark skinned”) anime characters grows higher with every new anime that is released and every new manga that is penned. All though finding reputable black characters in anime seems a little difficult.

“What does she mean by ‘reputable’?”

Well, that should be obvious enough: I’m talking about characters that do not, in any way, portray that idiot-ass stereotype of a character with jet-black skin and huge red lips that take up half their face. And, of course, if you’re a Dragonball fan, or, yes, even a Pokémon fan, then these two characters pop straight into your mind: